A Sense of Obligation
by EmmyH
Summary: Exploring beyond the boundaries of episodes, a ficcer is likely to find some interesting moments. Pick through and find your favorite episode! Keep in mind, this is a work in progress.
1. Children of the Gods

Hello, everyone!

I have created a challenge for myself. It seems like it'll be pretty epic, yet doable in small doses (I think.) The challenge: to create a little tiny fic to go with every episode of Stargate: SG-1 that ever happened—a tag, a missing scene, or at least using some element within the episode. Each one has to be 500 words or fewer. I'm not limiting myself other than that.

The purpose of this self-challenge is not to entertain all you lovely people (though if I end up doing so in the process, all the better) but just to keep my hand in the game while I'm short on plot bunnies. Therefore, I'm not gonna beg you for reviews, for which you might be somewhat grateful, and in return for that, when (if) you do review, saying, "Please update, Emilie! We love you!" I will not feel obligated to update, necessarily, though I might feel a twinge of guilt. And, if you say that in a review, I'll also be flattered beyond belief and grin and skip and people will think I've finally lost it. But I will not ask for reviews. NOT. (/me scolds self.)

…however, for the record, I don't MIND reviews. Not at all.

Disclaimer: not mine. None of it. At all.

Summary: Exploring beyond the bounds of episodes, a ficcer is likely to find some interesting moments. An epic set of tags.

Rating: T. Probably. Mostly.

Spoilers. Everything ever. Yes, you heard me.

Title: A Sense of Obligation

Author: Emilie (AKA EmmyH)

Notes: The title comes from a favorite quote of mine:

'A man said to the universe:  
"Sir, I exist!"  
"However," replied the universe,  
"The fact has not created in me  
A sense of obligation."'  
Stephen Crane

* * *

The commissary was quiet, most likely because it was just past 0500, but the quiet was just what Sam needed. Sitting at one of the dozen or so tables scattered around the hall, she put her head in her folded arms, and sighed. "What a disaster," she moaned.

"What's a disaster?" said a light voice from behind her.

She turned, startled, to see Dr. Jackson, a cup of coffee cradled in one hand. "Oh! Uh, hi," she said. "How's the coffee?"

"Terrible," he said, and took a sip. "But it's caffeinated. Mind if I join you?"

"Sure," she said, gesturing across the table. "Take a seat."

He did so, and asked again, "So, what's a disaster?"

"Oh, it's just this…thing with Colonel O'Neill," she said, picking glumly at a crack in the table.

"Thing? You have a thing?"

"What?—No! I mean—"

Dr. Jackson laughed softly. "Okay, okay, sorry. You were saying?"

"I—I feel like Colonel O'Neill doesn't respect me," she said, and closed her eyes. It sounded so silly when she put it like that.

Dr. Jackson smiled. "I know what you mean," he said. "He can be a little condescending sometimes."

Sam made a face. "I'm so tired of people thinking I can't deal with things because I'm a scientist, because I'm a woman, because I'm blonde…"

"You could always dye your hair," Dr. Jackson suggested.

"Tried that," she said. "In college. It didn't go well."

"For what it's worth, he probably respects you more than he lets on. He's…like that."

"He doesn't seem much like other officers I've served under," Sam mused.

"He doesn't seem much like other _people,_" Dr. Jackson said, smiling, then looked down. "Oh, wait, here he comes."

Sam turned in her seat, and saw the Colonel coming towards them. "Morning, sir," she said.

"Morning, Carter," he said, waving. "Daniel. Talking about me?"

Sam's eyes widened. _How did he know that?_ she thought.

"You had that furtive look," the Colonel said. "I can tell, Captain. Anyway, I've been looking for you. Wanted to tell you guys that we're booked on the firing range at 0700 hours."

Daniel frowned. "And 0700 means…?"

"Seven o'clock," Sam informed him.

Colonel O'Neill added, "It's the same as civilian time until afternoon, and then you add twelve. Don't be late, guys. Some people need to learn to shoot." He winked at Carter, jerking his head at Dr. Jackson, who blushed.

"So, Daniel," said the Colonel, sliding in to sit next to Dr. Jackson, "How's the coffee?"


	2. The Enemy Within

The names were read out: Doctor Michael Nimzicki. Airman First Class James Tearn. Major Charlie Kowalski.

Three innocents, three deaths.

This was getting to be a costly command, General Hammond knew. The money, he could deal with. He could fight to get more funds. Money was supposed to be spent.

Lives weren't.

Could he send young men and women through the Stargate to die?

He looked over the determined faces of his people. This command was so young, the paint on the walls was still wet—literally—but people were willing to die for this cause—to protect not only their country, but their world.

He hoped, in future, the cost of protection wouldn't be so high.

* * *

This was supposed to be a drabble, but it ran 17 words over. Whoops! Oh, well... :)


	3. Emancipation

Author's notes: Not sure I liked the ending of this one. Actually, let me restate that: I really don't like the ending at all. But what the hell, it's just a teeny tag, right? There are so many other tags I'm really excited to write, but I'm trying to go in order and we don't get to one I'm excited for until... hmm. Torment of Tantalus should be fun. In the meantime... ah, well. Anyway... In my deluded mind, I've decided that "Something New/Something Blue" should be the title of this tag. I'll leave it up to y'all to decide for yourselves what you think the 'new' stands for. I'd think 'blue' is obvious if you've seen the episode. ;)

* * *

Walking back to the Stargate, SG-1 surrounding her, Sam said, "I think I'd like to burn it."

Daniel looked at her in shock. "You can't just do that! It's an artifact!"

"You could throw it into the wormhole thing," Colonel O'Neill said. "You know, when the big whoosh comes out…"

Daniel glared at him. "You aren't helping."

"I'm not trying to help," the Colonel said. "I don't see why we can't destroy it. It's just a bunch of cloth. Nice cloth, but…"

"It itched," Sam said. "A lot."

"It was a symbol of the slavery of women on this planet," Teal'c added. He lightly brushed a finger against the Apophis-symbol on his forehead. "You should destroy it."

Sam sighed. "No, it's okay. Let Daniel have it. It's just a dress. But," she pointed at the archaeologist, "I'm not wearing it. Understood?"

"Fine, fine," Daniel said. "Anyway, it's sort of a symbol of the opposite, if you think about it. It was _your_ dress." He grinned at her, spreading his arms. "Samantha Carter, galactic liberator!"

The Colonel chipped in. "Freeing the universe of evil men, evil aliens, and turkey sandwiches!"

"Sandwiches," Daniel moaned. "When did we last eat? A long time ago, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, Colonel, I could use a sandwich right about now," Sam said, rubbing her stomach. "What time is it, anyway?"

"The SGC's commissary will close in approximately one hour," Teal'c said. "We may be able to make it."

"Daniel'll give General Hammond puppy-eyes so our briefing can be pushed back," Colonel O'Neill said. "Right, Daniel?"

"Sure," said Daniel. "I think." He frowned.

"For the good of the team, Danny," the Colonel said, and slung an arm over his shoulders. "SG-1."

"Hear, hear," Teal'c said solemnly. When Sam looked at him, he winked.


	4. The Broca Divide

I think I've been reading too much Patrick O'Brian lately. It's snuck into my writing somewhere in here, I know it... also, this was written late last night, and I'm not sure I was entirely coherent. Hence, a possibility of squishiness and/or cheesiness.

-Emilie

* * *

He had a bruise the shape of a foot on his abdomen, what seemed like hundreds of scratches from the bushes he'd been lying in, and a big lump on the back of his head. That one was the worst, he thought: his head ached, in and out, even his ears hurt, his lip, his left eyeball. Dr. Frasier had told him he'd sustained a mild concussion, and that he should try to avoid getting hit on the head in the next few weeks. Also, _rest,_ she's said. Take a nap, she'd told him. Take a day off. Easier said than done, he thought, but didn't tell the doctor that. He didn't think she'd appreciate it.

Every single part of his body hurt, actually, and Jack said that was normal—"you get used to it," he'd said, and Daniel supposed that was true, but he wasn't used to it _yet._ Sometimes Daniel wished he was like normal people, who enjoyed resting when they were under the weather, but he wasn't normal—and he lamented the fact, really he did.

So here he was, knocking on Teal'c's door at 11:00 at night (oh, excuse _me,_ he corrected himself, 2300 hours, is that better?) and hoping Teal'c wasn't grumpy this late, or he might be getting that second lump on the head, and wouldn't Janet be happy?

No answer, but he knew Teal'c was in there: he could see the light shining faintly under the door. He gently turned the doorknob, and opened the door—it creaked, very faintly. He peered inside. Teal'c was kel'no'reeming, the yellow light of the candle-fires illuminating his face. For a moment, Daniel was jealous: Teal'c looked so peaceful, so at home, on the ratty carpet floor in a world hundreds of thousands of light years from his home, while Daniel always felt so out-of-place here.

"Teal'c?" he asked, almost whispering.

Slowly, Teal'c opened his eyes. "Daniel Jackson," he replied, also speaking quietly. "What is it you desire from me?"

"I just…thought you might want some company," Daniel said.

"It is very late," Teal'c said. "Do you not usually go to your dwelling, late at night?"

The peacefulness was leaving Teal'c's face, and was replaced by Teal'c's usual stoicism. Not much different: the eyes a little harder, mouth a little firmer. But it broke Daniel's heart. "Yes; I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt—" He moved back towards the door. "I'll just leave. Sorry."

"Stay, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. Daniel stopped, and Teal'c said, "Sit." When Daniel sat as Teal'c was sitting, cross-legged on the floor, Teal'c said, "You had a question for me?"

He did have a question, he remembered, something about why would the Goa'uld have introduced such a strange disease—caveman disease?—to the people of the Land of Light, what purpose did it serve? Did the Goa'uld often do this sort of thing—kill, and hurt people just for fun, not for gain?

"No," he told Teal'c. "Anyway, it doesn't matter."

"Perhaps you would like to participate in Kel'no'reem," Teal'c said, and Daniel just smiled and nodded.

"Breathe in," Teal'c told him, and then, "Breathe out." Daniel breathed in. He breathed out. He felt like the ocean, his breaths were the tides, salty tranquility covering him up. The candles flickered in time with his heart. He could hear the quiet noises of the base, men hurrying to get to their stations in time, the elevator carrying people up and down the shaft, and once, klaxons going off. Those noises all faded, though, until all he could hear was his heart, and his breath. _Thump. _Breathe in. _Thump._ Breathe out. Over and over again.

Ages later, a voice cut in. "Daniel Jackson."

He opened his eyes. "Teal'c?"

"It is morning. Do you not have meetings this morning?"

"Yes—oh…" he looked at his watch. "I should go; I'll be late." He stood up hurriedly, surprised at how stiff he was. "Sorry, Teal'c, I didn't mean to stay so long." He rushed to the door, stopped once again by Teal'c saying, "Daniel Jackson." Daniel turned.

"You are welcome here at any time, Daniel," Teal'c said. "I have enjoyed participating in Kel'no'reem with you." That peaceful look was in his face, and Daniel hoped it would stay for more than a few minutes, this time.

"Me, too, Teal'c," he said. "Thanks." And his body felt it, he was throbbing all over, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter.


	5. The First Commandment

105 The First Commandment

a/n: Hi, everyone! This ficlet took what seems like forever to write. I was gonna try Daniel and Teal'c and explaining the bible, but it didn't work, and I'd just done Daniel and Teal'c, and then I was gonna do something else, but that was so terrible I'm not even gonna tell you the gist of it, and then I did this and it sorta worked. So, uh...ta-da!

On another note, if anyone is reading this and enjoying it (ha, all four of you), you may want to check out this:  
/s/2914398/1/AftershocksI  
I was poking around on stargate fan awards nominations 2007, and came across this. It's another approach to the thing I'm attempting here, a tag to every episode. She's gotten through season 4. I've been reading for the past several days, and I really like her approach, although I'm gonna be doing something quite different in most cases. Anyway: happy reading!

* * *

Daniel doesn't always follow his orders.

Mostly, he just forgets. Or he decides that his idea is better, and he can't possibly explain it in time for Jack to okay or nix it. Or he's just mad at Jack. Or he decides there are more important things than listening to the little man with the birds on his shoulders, even though he's your best friend, even though he only cares about you _not dying, dammit, _even though he's been trained for this, really, he has, and he's pretty good at it.

Daniel doesn't buy it. But Jack can deal with that: Daniel is a civilian, which means chaos and disorder, but also (in Daniel's case, at least) luck, a strange kind of care that tends to work out in the end, and smarts. So much smarts that Jack gets scared sometimes. So Jack can handle it when Daniel doesn't obey, because it sort of comes with territory.

Teal'c doesn't always follow his orders, either, not exactly.

He always pretends to. Jack never, ever catches him directly disobeying. If Teal'c disagrees with an order, he'll politely suggest a different way, and sometimes they'll change their plan, and Teal'c will be happy, and sometimes they won't, and Teal'c will just do extra stuff, to make sure his plan happens as well as Jack's. Most of the time it works out pretty well.

But Jack tries not to order Teal'c that much anyway, because Teal'c is a former First Prime, which as far as Jack can tell is the highest rank it's possible for a Jaffa to get, like a General, only more so. And a colonel doesn't usually get the chance to order around a former general, and he'd rather not screw it up. So he tries to make suggestions, not orders, and he tries to stay on Teal'c's good side, and hopes that he won't make any mistakes.

Sam Carter is an Air Force officer, just like him. She's junior to him. She always, always, always follows orders.

Except, Jack thinks ruefully, when she doesn't.

Mostly she's very good. She _is_ a great officer, Jack has to admit, despite his initial hesitance about her. But she both followed orders and took initiative on the first missions, to Abydos and Chulak, a perfect blend, a perfect officer. It was only later that Jack saw a different side of her.

Sometimes, she turns into Daniel, decides that her way is better, decides that she doesn't have time to wait, to tell Jack what's going on in that way-too-smart scary head of hers, and just runs off. And sometimes, she borrows a couple of stars from her father, General Carter of Vietnam War fame, and quietly suggests better ways to do things, and quietly implements her ways right alongside his, and never lets on that—sometimes, at least—she can lead just as well as he could. Maybe she doesn't know, herself. Jack is catching on, though.

Today, though, was the first time she'd refused to follow an order just because, because she had an emotional stake in the goings-on, because she didn't think it through, or because she did think it through and didn't care. She cared about that guy too much, or she cared about everyone else too much, and Jack was never good at reading these things but he's good at reading outcomes, and this was heading someplace bad. It scares Jack, because this wasn't I'm-smarter-than-you or I'm-better-than-you, it was I-don't-give-a-fuck, and he knows from personal experience that not giving a fuck gets you in trouble. It gets your team in trouble, and the universe reaches out and smacks you hard and you keep going, not caring, and—

Jonas is dead, and Jack's glad. Thou Shalt Not Kill is a nice thing to live by sometimes, but Jack is of the opinion that sometimes people have to be put down, like dogs and horses, when they go so crazy they're hardly human, and he was almost there once. Daniel was willing to give him a chance. Maybe Jack isn't that forgiving, though, or maybe Jonas was irredeemable. All Jack knows is, he's glad it's over.

And (_please God if you even exist and if you don't then even so_) he hopes, he _prays_ that it won't happen again.

* * *


	6. Brief Candle

106 Brief Candle

* * *

"Wow, Jack," Daniel said, wincing.

"What?" the Colonel asked, scowling. Grumpiness was a constant companion, it seemed, when you got old.

"You look so ancient," Daniel said. "Like, ninety."

"That's our Daniel," Jack muttered. "Master of diplomacy and tact. Carter, did you bring them?"

"Yes, sir," she replied, holding up a sharp pair of metal scissors. "As requested. But remember, sir, I haven't done this in a long time."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Jack said. "Where's Teal'c?"

"He's coming, I think—oh, there he is." Teal'c nodded at them as he came out of Argos' temple. "Teal'c, doesn't Jack look ancient?"

"Indeed he does, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. "Colonel O'Neill appears to be at least two hundred years in age."

"Okay, now I'm insulted," Jack muttered.

"I don't think you look much over eighty, sir," Carter said soothingly. "The haircut will help, I think."

"_I_ do not appear as old as Colonel O'Neill does," Teal'c said with what Jack thought might be a pained expression.

"Well, that's because you're not—wait. Teal'c, how old _are_ you?"

Yes, Jack thought, Teal'c definitely did look uncomfortable. "I am ninety-eight years old," he said. Carter raised her eyebrows.

"Wow," Jack said. "I don't feel so bad now."

"I am not very old for a Jaffa," Teal'c said.

Daniel patted him on the back. "Don't worry, Teal'c. You look great."

"Oh, yeah, comfort _him,_" Jack said. "Are we gonna do this or not?"

"Right," Carter said, holding up the scissors. "You'll need to sit, sir. And you should put one of the ponchos on."

"Ooh, poncho," Daniel said. "Good idea." He knelt, removing his backpack, and starting to go through it.

"What is a poncho?" Teal'c asked.

"This is a poncho," Daniel said, still rummaging through his backpack.

"I believe that is your backpack, Daniel."

Daniel sighed, still taking things out of his bag and throwing them on the ground. "No, I mean, I'm getting it out."

"I'm not cleaning that up," Carter said, looking at the mess Daniel was making.

"Here!" Daniel said triumphantly, pulling out the poncho. "It's for rain, Teal'c," he said, handing it to Jack.

"It is a beautiful day outside. The sun is shining brightly. I do not believe it will rain."

"You never know," Jack said. "C'mon, let's do this." He slowly pulled the poncho over his head, wincing as he did so. "Hope the arthritis goes away when the oldness does," he said quietly.

"I think it will, sir. Can you sit down for me?"

Jack looked around and found a stone wall to sit on. "You're not gonna chop my ears off, right?"

"'Course not, sir. I've done this for a lot of people."

"But not in a while," Daniel said.

"No," Carter said. "I did it a lot for other women at the Academy, and a couple of the men."

"Oh," Daniel said. "So, like, in college."

Carter shrugged. "Yeah."

"That was what…ten years ago?"

Jack winced. "I don't really need a haircut," he said. "Really, Carter, I'm fine."

"I do not believe anything Captain Carter does could make your hair look any worse, O'Neill."

"What is this, Pick-on-the-Colonel day?" Carter looked contrite, but Daniel just grinned.

"Just think how much better you'll look, Jack," Daniel said.

"I hope so," Jack muttered.

"Ready?" Carter said, and before Jack could say _no_ one last time, she started snipping.

* * *

A/N: Man, if hair grows that fast on Argos, those Argosians must have haircuts every day. Maybe a couple times a day. That would get annoying. I figured, even if the aging reversed for O'Neill, the hair was hardly gonna retract back into his head. Hope you enjoyed it!


	7. Cold Lazarus

My writing is feeling very dramatic and emo today. The way I wrote this was, I was gonna do a team scene, and then I thought, enough dialogue! Let's do something without dialogue! But dialogue is apparently all I know how to do. So I cheated and just made it italics instead, and made him talk to Sara, instead of sitting him with his team, not talking about how he'd talked to Sara. Which, duh, he did talk to her, or else he's a butthead. My take on their conversatin is below. :)

* * *

Afterward, he had talked to Sara.

She knew it was something secret, something he wouldn't ever be allowed to tell her, and she hadn't asked questions. So he'd just taken her in his arms, and said _I'm sorry,_ and _I love you,_ and _That was crazy, wasn't it?_

And she had replied: _It's okay, _and _I love you too,_ and _Are you sure you're okay?_

And he was always the strong one, so he said, _yeah._ He _was_ okay. He was always okay. And the one time he wasn't, his son had died, and his wife had left him, and now he was always okay, because if he wasn't, he could lose even more—he could lose even more than he'd already lost, which was already everything.

So he said he was fine, although he wasn't sure Sara believed him. _The…other guy,_ she said. _He was looking at Charlie's stuff._

He didn't say anything, and for a minute, neither did she. She just gripped his hand, tighter than she'd done when Charlie was in the hospital, already a vegetable, waiting for life and entropy and inevitability to kill him.

_Wait here,_ she said suddenly, and ran into the house. Jack looked at the place he'd raised his son, looking at the bicycle by the garage and thinking about the swing set he knew was in the backyard, that Jack had built for Charlie's sixth birthday. And then Sara came back with a baseball and glove in her hands. She ran up and handed them to him. _Jack,_ she'd said,

"Jack," she said, "I love you." And then she disappeared into the house, and left him alone, staring at his memories.


End file.
